Second-year student Haylee Chiariello is a TCU twirler. She’s a Cherokee Nation citizen
from Oklahoma City.
And she faced a life-threatening diagnosis as a teenager. She shared this story with
the media, crediting an early diagnosis for her healing and using her experience to
make an impact at TCU and beyond.
“I consider that my personal legacy: I want to continue to serve Native people because it saved my life,” she told the Cherokee Phoenix.
She hopes to use her experience to bring awareness and change and hopes to eventually work promoting health initiatives for Native Americans.
“Native people face disproportionately high rates of many different health challenges,” she said. “We’re struggling to overcome issues like diabetes and hypertension. It’s especially prevalent among our youth. As an athlete, I want to help be a part of that change. I use my experience as a baton twirler to show children that living a healthy, active lifestyle can be really fun and lead you to incredible places.”
On a recent half-hour NBC-5 program called Conversations: Call for Change, Chiariello said she volunteers as a baton instructor at the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic where she received care. She’s also giving back at TCU, making tremendous efforts to share the Native American story with the campus community.
“You can see why we are so fortunate at TCU to have a Native American student, a Cherokee student, like Haylee, come and help us,” said Scott Langston, religion instructor and liaison for Native American Nations and Communities. “We have a lot to learn from Native Peoples like Haylee.”
Read more about this program from the AddRan College of Liberal Arts.